A new study suggests the proliferation of gay and transgender characters in films and television
shows has not prevented gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender actors from experiencing
discrimination in Hollywood.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists commissioned the
survey, released today. It found that more than half of the actors who identify as gay, bisexual
and transgender think directors and producers are biased against them.

More than one-third of the actors who don't fall into those categories agreed with that
perception.

Only 16 percent of the gay, bisexual and transgender respondents, however, said they had
experienced discrimination. Gay men reported the most, with about one-fifth saying they had been
discriminated against.

The online survey of nearly 5,700 SAG/AFTRA members also found that more than half of the
gay, transgender and bisexual respondents had heard producers and directors make anti-gay comments
while working on-set.

The performers' union, which is holding its annual convention in Los Angeles, said it pursued
the first-of-its-kind research at the request of a committee that represents lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender members and as a methodical way to explore an issue usually discussed on the basis
of anecdotal evidence.

The study was conducted by the Williams Institute, a think tank based at UCLA that
specializes in sexual orientation, gender identity and public policy.

"The survey results show both progress and indications that more work will be necessary to
make the workplace an equal and fully welcoming place for LGBT performers," M. V. Lee Badgett, a
University of Massachusetts, Amherst economics professor affiliated with the UCLA institute. "The
good news is that almost no one thought that opportunities for LGBT actors were getting worse."

Of the survey's 5,692 participants, 465 identified as gay men, 61 as lesbians, and seven as
transgender. Another 301 men and women described themselves as bisexual.